Thank you very much. I'm happy to help by answering any questions that come up during your oven build. I agree with you about foil pouch cooking. It's compact, easy, and the cleanup is a cinch! I've read about cooking in a foil pouch while driving a long distance by sticking it next to your engine block but haven't experimented with it yet. What a mess if it came loose or undone, but the smell inside the car might be nice. Have you tried it?

Hi Becky! I apologize for the delay in responding. Being that I live in a completely opposite climate (Southern California), I don't have much, scratch that, ANY experience with cold and snow, however, upon doing some quick research for you, it seems that these ovens will hold up perfectly fine given adequate shelter. In my experience, tarps break down with the elements. For me, the sunshine wears them out rather easily over a period of months. we get rain now and again (a lot this past winter!) and my tarps protected my oven just fine. The weight of the snow shouldn't be an issue, as the round form of the oven makes it incredibly strong. To be safe, I'd build a small shelter (roof) over the oven to keep the elements from directly contacting the oven. Going with a finish layer o...

Hi Becky! I apologize for the delay in responding. Being that I live in a completely opposite climate (Southern California), I don't have much, scratch that, ANY experience with cold and snow, however, upon doing some quick research for you, it seems that these ovens will hold up perfectly fine given adequate shelter. In my experience, tarps break down with the elements. For me, the sunshine wears them out rather easily over a period of months. we get rain now and again (a lot this past winter!) and my tarps protected my oven just fine. The weight of the snow shouldn't be an issue, as the round form of the oven makes it incredibly strong. To be safe, I'd build a small shelter (roof) over the oven to keep the elements from directly contacting the oven. Going with a finish layer of lime plaster is a GREAT idea to further help protect it from the elements, but this takes some time to properly cure (harden), as a naturally occurring chemical reaction has to occur, so now would be the time to do that before Fall and/or Winter comes (I don't know when you start getting snow). I found this picture that will give you some sort of an idea: http://coloradocob.org/images/cob-oven-winter.jpgI hope this helps! If you have further questions, let me know. :)

No apologies necessary, there is a lot of information and easy to miss something when you're thinking about all the delicious things you will cook. Well, that's what happens to me anyways. :)I appreciate you writing and am happy to answer any questions you might have along your journey in building your oven.

Thank you! I'd love to see your oven once complete. The use of the clay as the doorway is a great idea if you don't have wood or a way to shape a door out of wood. You can always use fresh clay/cob mixture to fill in any gaps when you close the door during the cooking process. Make sure you have a way to pull the clay door off, first because it could get very hot, and second because you don't want to stick your fingers on the side of the door to pry it out of the doorway, again because of the high heat. I hope that makes sense.

Thank you so much! For this oven, yes, because of the very small size i didn't find it necessary. On my full size oven, I chose not to do a chimney based on the advice in Kiko's book. He does recommend a chinney when building an oven indoors of course, and also outside in a more sheltered spot to get smoke out of your way. If you're designing and sculpting your final layers of your oven to look like a dragon or other fire-breathing creature, a chimney as a mouth of course gives it the look, style and flair you're after. If you're solely wanting to improve the draft and combustion and efficiency of the oven, a firing door is useful. It has an open section along the bottom and top of the door. The air is pulled in through the bottom of the door to help with combustion, sweeping acro...

Thank you so much! For this oven, yes, because of the very small size i didn't find it necessary. On my full size oven, I chose not to do a chimney based on the advice in Kiko's book. He does recommend a chinney when building an oven indoors of course, and also outside in a more sheltered spot to get smoke out of your way. If you're designing and sculpting your final layers of your oven to look like a dragon or other fire-breathing creature, a chimney as a mouth of course gives it the look, style and flair you're after. If you're solely wanting to improve the draft and combustion and efficiency of the oven, a firing door is useful. It has an open section along the bottom and top of the door. The air is pulled in through the bottom of the door to help with combustion, sweeping across and through the fire, rising and rolling up along the top of the roof and out the top of the door, a beautiful swirling effect!I've not worked with chimneys directly as of yet and have found no need thus far. Your situation may be different with what you need or want.

It's small enough and so self-contained that it shouldn't be a fire hazard but yes, absolutely check with the landlord first so you remain safe legally and fire hazard-y. :)It makes a nice outdoor heater too!

Yes, I did use a sand mound for the form. The picture may look as if the walls are thin but it must've been the angle. I'm including a couple more pics for you to see. It's about 6 inches thick which includes the base layer, the insulation layer, and the finish layer. I do not have an issue with heat loss due to the insulation layer in the dome, and glass bottles neatly tucked into more cob that formed the base below the fire bricks. It takes a good 48-72 hours (depending on outdoor temps) to go from 700° F down to "room temperature" inside the oven with the biggest drop happening in the first 24-36 hours. It's the benefit of this type of oven.....cook pizza, breads, then meats/vegetables, soups, stews, fish, baked goods such as cookies, cakes, or pies, finished with...

Yes, I did use a sand mound for the form. The picture may look as if the walls are thin but it must've been the angle. I'm including a couple more pics for you to see. It's about 6 inches thick which includes the base layer, the insulation layer, and the finish layer. I do not have an issue with heat loss due to the insulation layer in the dome, and glass bottles neatly tucked into more cob that formed the base below the fire bricks. It takes a good 48-72 hours (depending on outdoor temps) to go from 700° F down to "room temperature" inside the oven with the biggest drop happening in the first 24-36 hours. It's the benefit of this type of oven.....cook pizza, breads, then meats/vegetables, soups, stews, fish, baked goods such as cookies, cakes, or pies, finished with further drying out your next round of wood in a very low 150-200° oven. It utilizes the oven at all temperatures. My final cover is essentially the same cob mixture with more water added along with fresh horse (or cow) manure. The manure naturally adds VERY fine chopped up pieces of straw instead of the longer pieces used in the original cob mix. Mix it up so it's more of a slurry (like heavy cream or pancake batter consistency, and smear it all over. Once it starts to lighten up during the drying process, take a smoothing tool (plastic yogurt lids are great!) and give it a good rub all over. It'll smooth out and get a nice "shine" to it. You'll know what I mean. You'll see the golden flecks of straw really shine through. I didn't do the greatest job on my finish plaster but it looks decent, though rustic. I still use a plastic drop cloth and a blue or green tarp to keep it covered anytime rain is in the forecast. We had a freak rainstorm last summer that did "melt" a portion of my oven and I had to repair it. A total pain.

I don't know, it seems like you have all the right materials but went a very haphazard way of using them to build your oven. I built a cob oven 6 years ago based on instructions from Kiko Denzer's book which can be viewed here:http://www.handprintpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/BYOEO.lkinside1.pdfBuild it right the first time and it'll perform and past for years or decades. Last week I made 3 pizzas and a freeform blueberry pie, all fantastic.

Don't get me wrong, I do appreciate the primitive nature of the oven you built, and especially without having to source anything outside of your immediate location. I found some nice clay veins in our local mountains and hiked several times in the rain to get the natural clay, carrying it down in buckets and or jammed into a backpack. It was NOT fun but I was gung ho and full of energy (before I had kids, ha). Here are pictures of the finished oven, a fire going with an unbaked pizza that was just put in, my freeform blueberry pie, and a cooked pizza (different from the uncooked one). As I walk around town, I'm always gathering any fallen tree limbs, branches, etc. for fuel. Perhaps I'll upload more pictures of my building process from long ago, though they may be redundant compare...

Don't get me wrong, I do appreciate the primitive nature of the oven you built, and especially without having to source anything outside of your immediate location. I found some nice clay veins in our local mountains and hiked several times in the rain to get the natural clay, carrying it down in buckets and or jammed into a backpack. It was NOT fun but I was gung ho and full of energy (before I had kids, ha). Here are pictures of the finished oven, a fire going with an unbaked pizza that was just put in, my freeform blueberry pie, and a cooked pizza (different from the uncooked one). As I walk around town, I'm always gathering any fallen tree limbs, branches, etc. for fuel. Perhaps I'll upload more pictures of my building process from long ago, though they may be redundant compared to other Instructables on here. If you have any questions or thoughts, I'm open to them.

The wide picture of the oven is without the finish layer. The closeup picture has the finish layer on it.

Camping is an elective outdoor recreational activity. Generally held, participants leave developed areas to spend time outdoors in more natural ones in pursuit of activities providing them enjoyment. To be regarded as "camping" a minimum of one night is spent outdoors, distinguishing it from day-tripping, picnicking, and other similarly short-term recreational activities. Camping can be enjoyed through all four seasons.Camping may involve sheltering in the open air, a tent, a caravan, a motorhome, or a primitive structure. Luxury may be an element, as in early 20th century African safaris, but including accommodations in fully equipped fixed structures such as high-end sporting camps under the banner of "camping" blurs the line.Not everyone can backpack in like yours...

Camping is an elective outdoor recreational activity. Generally held, participants leave developed areas to spend time outdoors in more natural ones in pursuit of activities providing them enjoyment. To be regarded as "camping" a minimum of one night is spent outdoors, distinguishing it from day-tripping, picnicking, and other similarly short-term recreational activities. Camping can be enjoyed through all four seasons.Camping may involve sheltering in the open air, a tent, a caravan, a motorhome, or a primitive structure. Luxury may be an element, as in early 20th century African safaris, but including accommodations in fully equipped fixed structures such as high-end sporting camps under the banner of "camping" blurs the line.Not everyone can backpack in like yourself, so perhaps you can think of a way to make pizza using lighter camp stoves or some other method. Or, forgo the pizza until you return to civilization.